Money matters. Name ID matters. But Covington voters also want their elected representatives to put ego aside and work together to move the city forward.

That's the takeaway from Tuesday's primary election for City Commission, where a field of 13 candidates was whittled to eight for the November general election. About 12,000 votes were cast in the race.

While all four incumbents survived the primary, only two were among the top four vote-getters: Steve Frank and Chuck Eilerman, with about 1,600 votes apiece, or 13 percent of the vote. Both are well-known across the city.

Newcomers Jordan Huizenga, a nonprofit executive, and Bill Wells, a longtime community activist, had strong showings: each earned about 1,200 votes, or 10 percent. Huizenga had raised the most money in the primary: $12,000 from influential city leaders like developer Bill Butler and former mayor Chuck Scheper.

First-term incumbents Mildred Rains and Michelle Williams made the cut, but they could be vulnerable in November: Neither earned more than 900 votes, and Williams finished seventh. Public relations executive Warner Allen and Realtor Christi Blair also advanced to the general election.

Rains and Williams have frequently clashed with Mayor Sherry Carran and the city administration, battles that spilled out into public meetings on more than one occasion. But they've toned down their attacks on City Hall in recent months.

"Voters don't want conflicted, antagonistic people on the commission," said J.T. Spence, a former city commissioner, political science instructor at Thomas More College, and head of the Covington Neighborhood Collaborative.

Spence is not involved in the primary, but he is politically active and gave money to Eilerman and Wells in the primary.

"(Voters) want rational, thoughtful people who are willing to work with each other. And I think (all the candidates) want to be perceived that way now," he said.

The yearlong Bob Due scandal wasn't much of a factor, probably because the former finance director embezzled from the city over several administrations. The current administration caught the theft and is working to repair the damage. Nor was the Brent Spence Bridge replacement much of an issue.

"If there's any anxiety on the part of the voter, what I sense is the idea that we don't want to lose the momentum that we have. We don't want to lose that on petty squabbles or egotistical power trips – we want to keep our eye on the prize to achieve the potential that Covington has," Spence said.

Heading into the general election, expect that to be a theme for all eight candidates. The race is also likely to include budget and public safety battles, given the concerns raised last week about whether the fire department has adequate equipment to serve Northern Kentucky's largest city.

Above all, the general election will be a fight to obtain control of City Hall.

"The golden rule in Covington is three: whoever gets three can set policy," Spence said. "There are five elected officials; if you have three votes you get (to set) policy and the others don't. And this race is really about who's going to put together the three votes – is it going to be Steve Frank, or is it going to be Mayor Carran?"

Mayor Sherry Carran, who is not on the ballot until 2016, has often been allied with Eilerman. She gave money to Huizenga and Wells in the primary.

Frank, meanwhile, opened his checkbook for Huizenga and Allen. Frank has often been the swing vote, sometimes siding with Carran and Eilerman but joining forces with Williams and Rains at other times.

Over the coming months, observers of city politics will be watching to see where alliances are made – and where they shift – heading into what will likely be a tough battle for control of Covington. ⬛